Melany M. April 19, 2019
KT Rolster secured its place in the LCK Summer Split after taking down Jin Air Green Wings in the second round of the LCK promotion tournament.
KT is the first team to go from split champion to the relegations tournament the very next split. The team’s situation is not surprising, as during the offseason the team failed to secure an experienced bot laner. Instead, KT settled for rookie Jeon "Zenit" Tae-gwon, who showed in the spring that he may not be at the level of his LCK competitors.
The team relied on its solo lanes to carry it to victory, and his strategy couldn’t hold up against well-rounded squads like SK Telecom T1, Griffin, and Kingzone DragonX.
At the promotion tournament, KT took down VSG in the first round to moved to the qualifying round against Jin Air.
The series finished after three quick games that favored KT.
In game one, KT played a standard and organized composition. Jungler Eom "UmTi" Seong-hyeon on Jarvan IV was aggressive in the early game and helped his laners to get ahead.
KT had control over neutral objectives across the map. At the baron pit, KT secured the buff but Jin Air was ready to punish in response and scored three kills. It was still too little too late from Jin Air, as KT would recover and close the game at 31 minutes.
UmTi continued to be aggressive in the jungle in game two. His confidence was contagious as mid laner Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong followed his lead with a key solo kill against lane opponent Lee "Grace" Chan-ju. KT rolled over Jin Air for a quick victory 24 minutes into the match.
Jin Air showed signs of life in game three. Choi "CheonGo" Hyeon-woo replaced Grace in the mid lane and was more effectively able to trade with Bdd. Top laner Heo "Lindarang" Man-heung on Aatrox was the last hope for Jin Air, but he couldn’t deliver the goods.
The early game favored Jin Air until KT was able to take over. Bdd and top laner Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho were the stars of the game for KT and are looking good for the upcoming summer season. KT closed the final game in the series at 29 minutes and secured a pass to the next split in the LCK.
Jin Air is not out of the LCK yet, but they must face the winner of the loser’s bracket game between VSG and ES Sharks for the final pass to the summer split.